August 28

After an hour of predawn walking by a still quite full moon, often eerily hiding behind clouds, Spain’s scenery unfolded in her golden beauty that I have now become accustomed to.

I walked through the small towns of Moratinos and San Nicholas and then into the bigger, historical city of Sajagún. In medieval times it was second in the Kingdom of León only to León City. King Alfonso VI was educated here.

The only other real difference to the walking portion of this day is that I ended up in a town 30.9 kilometers down an alternate route to El Burgo Ranero than the one I intended to take to Calzadilla de Los Hermanillos, only a 24.9 kilometer walk… I started off correctly by taking a noted split into the small village of Calzada de Coto, but apparently there was another division just after the town that my guidebook didn’t alert me to. (A Hungarian bunkmate later showed me the picture she took – it was a rock with one yellow arrow pointing left and one pointing right. Smhh.)

I was dismayed to find that I still had nearly two hours to go when I thought I was ending a relatively short day – in fact only minutes after acknowledging to myself what an easy day it had been. Most of the walk was along a tree lined corridor and a gusty, refreshing wind was blowing intermittently as well. So instead I also walked through Bercianos del Camino before arriving at Albergue Domenico Laffi around 1:00, just as they were opening. I secured my bottom bunk, procured some supplies from a tienda across the street, set about my cleaning chores and had a snack before basically hunkering down in my room for a rest from accumulated tiredness. I mostly stayed in my room because the place soon became a zoo with every peregrino and more whom I have met over the last week! There were multiple meals being churned out of the kitchen, guitar playing, showers being taken, laundry everywhere and loud, loud voices in languages I do not understand echoing off the ceilings!! Even in my room!! Two Hungarian women hardly took breaths between their exchanges, soon joined by a third and then a young German girl spent nearly an hour zipping and unzipping, stuffing and unstuffing – her backpack, crinkling plastic bags and who knows what all else?!?? As she was my upper bunk mate this was all going on before my face.

Eventually I fell asleep though, which is good – because of the excessive snoring of three cyclists who joined us later and my aching feet (And Man-o Man-o do the bottoms of my feet ache throughout the night – every night!!!) I had quite a restless night. Ahhh The Camino!